Yojimbo (1961)

Samurai I Am

Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune team up for one of their most basic and enjoyable samurai films. The clever Sanjuro (Mifune) arrives in a small town and proceeds to play one rival faction against the other. The film was nominated for an Oscar for Costume Design. Sanjuro returned in a sequel, Sanjuro, the following year. And Sergio Leone famously remade both films as Spaghetti Westerns starring Clint Eastwood. In the 1990s, Walter Hill did another remake, Last Man Standing, starring Bruce Willis, and gave Kurosawa story credit.